Combined router table and table saw?

[sploo]

I've got a fairly small workshop, and that's always stopped me from buying a table saw. My main "workbench" is a DIY router table that's approx 120x60cm (4'x2').

Unfortunately, the table's sagged so I need to replace/rebuild it. I'm also finding more need for a table saw due to some recent jobs *.

I have previously done the Heath Robinson Special(TM) of mounting a handheld circular saw upside down on a different table insert plate - but that's obviously not very safe (no guard) and the depth of cut is limited (as well as the fact adjusting it is a pain).

Ideally I'd be able to buy a saw unit (essentially a plate with the motor, saw, and guard) that I could drop into a suitably large hole in the table, but I've not seen anything like that. A combination saw/router table of the same 120x60cm size would be good too - but I've not seen that.

What I'm wondering about is building a cabinet of the same size, but with a shorter table (say 60x60cm). At one end of the table I'd have a "shelf" onto which I'd fit one of the portable site saws (such as the Bosch GTS 10 XC), set so that the table height matches the rest of the unit. As long as I can drop the saw + knife + guard completely out of the way, I'd have a large enough surface for routing bigger sheets, and the router table would give extra support for cutting large sheets.

The current bench is on locking castors, so although it's up against a wall, I can pull it forward by 30-40cm if I needed to extend the table saw fence out for wider cuts. Obviously I could also then unbolt the saw from the shelf if I wanted to take it outside for a particularly large sheet (or a particularly dusty job).

Just wondering if anyone's attempted anything like that before, and if I've missed spotting a major show stopper? Any thoughts appreciated!


* Not least because the tensioning rod on my Record BS300 bandsaw snapped off the machine last night

 

[paulrockliffe]

I bought a new motor for a second hand saw table, what arrived was the entire motor and mounting hardware including the riving knife and angle adjustment mechanisms. It was basically missing the top guard/dust extractor and a couple of handles for adjusting height and angles. You could buy the missing bits as parts as well.

That sort of thing might work for you, though it's likely as cheap to buy a second hand machine and break it up, they'll pretty much all be a mechanism hung off the bottom of the table.

I'm planning to build a router table in the new year and am thinking about making it 18" wider and putting the circular saw mechanism into it as it'll save space and allow me to double-up on fences etc.

 

[sploo]

That's a good idea. I'm certainly warming more to the idea of a combined router/saw table.

The criticism I see regarding the site saws seems to be about accuracy of cut. I assume the blade/motor/arbor itself is sound, and the issues are more about the quality of the mitre slots, fences, and sliding tables. As such, getting a motor unit and mounting it to your own table has merit. The Bosch GTS 10 J frankly looks to be little more than the blade/motor/arbor (with a small table).

That said, I'm seriously considering the Bosch GTS 10 XC. If I made a 60x60cm table (for the router side) and had the Bosch as the other end, I could then lift it out to use outside occasionally. Having looking into it a bit more, it can apparently retract the saw completely, so should give me a large table surface for routing bigger sheets. It's not cheap though.